Rights of Colonial Indentured Servants

Indentured servitude is the practice of entering into a kind of temporary slavery in exchange for a later economic advantage. It was common in the American Colonies as early as 1607. Both men and women volunteered to be indentured servants in the New World to seek opportunity for financial betterment, though some were forced into service to pay debts or as punishment. By the late 1600s, many indentured servants were children of immigrant colonists whose parents bound them into servitude in exchange for an education. Indentured servitude was different from slavery, in that an indentured servant could reasonably expect minimal rights while fulfilling her contract.

Education

Indentured servants could expect to learn a trade, to varying degrees. Children who had been sold into servitude to skilled craftsman were expected to become apprentices. By the end of their term of service, they would have learned their master's trade and be ready to begin a financially stable career. Servants who were not contracted as apprentices still had the opportunity to learn household management, animal husbandry, farming and general labor skills.

Room and Board

An indentured servant was guaranteed by contract a place to sleep and food to eat, though there was no promise that the food or bed would be of any particular quality. In some states, such as Maryland, if a servant became pregnant, her child's room and board was added to her term of service. If the father was another servant, that cost was split between their two masters.

Reasonable Punishment

Masters of indentured servants were barred by law from physical cruelty and abuse, though it did sometimes occur. This did not exclude corporal punishment, which many colonies recognized as the appropriate treatment of a disobedient servant. A servant who was badly mistreated by his master was able to bring a suit in civil court. If the court found in his favor, his owner could be fined a nominal amount.

Eventual Freedom

The primary incentive for most indentured servants was the promise of eventual freedom and an opportunity to build a life in the New World. For immigrant servants, this new life frequently would be far more prosperous than the one they had left behind.

The term of an indentured servant's contract varied, but it usually was between seven and 14 years. Some masters guaranteed a grubstake at the end of the contract. A grubstake was a sum of money meant to help the servant establish herself as an independent citizen. This practice, also called "freedom dues," sometimes included a small amount of land.

References

• "The Journal of Technology Studies": The Education of Indentured Servants in Colonial America; Mark R. Snyder
• Boise State University: US A Poor People's History: Early America
• "Constructing the Past": Volume 9, Issue 1; Case Studies in Indentured Servitude in Colonial America; Jackie Hill
• "A Companion to Colonial America": Daniel Vickers; 2006
• "The Cliometric Society": Differential Tolerances and Accepted Punishments for Disobedient Indentured Servants and Their Masters in Colonial Courts; Melissa A. Roe